Affiliated Centers, Portfolios & Initiatives

Child Health Insurance Research Initiative (CHIRI™)

The Child Health Insurance Research Initiative (CHIRI™) is an effort to supply policymakers information to help them improve access to, and the quality of, health care for low-income children.

Background

Begun in 1999 to support nine studies of public child health insurance programs and health care delivery systems, CHIRI™ is a partnership between:

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

CHIRI™ Projects

CHIRI™ studies seek to uncover which health insurance and delivery features work best for low-income children, particularly minority children and those with special health care needs. Seven of the nine projects focus exclusively on or have separate analyses of children with special health care needs, and five explore disparities between minority and non-minority children. View a list of CHIRI™ projects.

Overall funding totals over $9 million over 3 years for the nine research projects. Researchers and funders participate in a collaborative process to strengthen individual studies and increase the generalizability of results, making it possible for CHIRI™ findings to be applied across locations, populations, and insurance design and organizational delivery system features.

CHIRI™ Findings

Children's Health Insurance Programs (CHIP, formerly SCHIP), Medicaid, and State- and locally-subsidized health insurance can all benefit from CHIRI™. (Select for highlights of recent CHIRI™ findings related to SCHIP.) Results from CHIRI™ can aid in understanding how to improve health care for vulnerable children, including children who remain uninsured, and how to improve the institutions that serve them. CHIRI™ findings are now available on the following topics:

About CHIRI™ Funders

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the lead agency charged with supporting research designed to improve the quality of health care, reduce its costs, address patient safety and medical errors, and broaden access to essential services. AHRQ sponsors and conducts research that provides evidence-based information on health care outcomes; quality; and cost, use and access.

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation is a private family foundation, that provides grants in a number of program areas, including science, children, families and communities, population, conservation, and the arts.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) also part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, directs national health programs that provide access to quality health care to underserved and vulnerable populations. HRSA also promotes appropriate health professions workforce supply, training and education.

Related Efforts

CHIRI™ complements other efforts to study the impact of public insurance on improving health care for low-income children and resources to assist policymakers in strengthening public child health insurance programs. For information on other related evaluation, research, and policy efforts, go to: http://www.ahrq.gov/chiri/chirilinks.htm